instead of studying honorific and humble forms, which i have both studied before and have decided are unnecessary for stupid gaijins like myself to ever construct, i am going to spend the next hour translating an interview with james franco that i found in the japanese Elle. now that's putting my japanese to good use!

today i bought two cute very japanese-looking shirts, and i was so proud of myself for figuring out how to ask for a dressing room (took my shoes off before entering the room, but secretly didn't cover my face with the cloth before slipping the shirt over my head...hey, i didn't even have any makeup on!) and how to pay for the pretty things (want a picture? i'll send you one from my cell phone!), and then the cashier girl had to go and confuse me with some indecipherable question. just when you think you've conquered something as easy as buying a shirt, someone has to go and throw some phrase you've never heard of into the mix. and no, i don't want to hear that perhaps studying up on those honorifics and humbles might have made the situation any better... ok fine, maybe you're right.

oh well, i am now the proud owner of two extremely cute and extremely japanese shirts. no matter what the linguistic difficulties, no matter how stupid the gaijin, eventually you will make your purchase, you will find a way to get home, and you will get by just fine. whoever said that it was hard to get by in japan without understanding the language just wasn't willing to make a big enough fool of him or herself.